Turkish Infinitive, Turkish Infinitive -mek, -mak
Turkish Infinitive, Turkish Infinitive -mek, -mak
Turkish Infinitive, Turkish Infinitive -mek, -mak
- infinitive
- The infinitive is a verbal noun. "to walk, walking"
- It has no inflection to indicate mood or tense.
The suffix of the Turkish infinitive is -me(k) -ma(k)
[the final -k is often dropped when adding suffixes]
As a noun it can be suffixed with person and movement suffixes.
Positive Verb Root:
gelmek
[gel-mek]
to come, the coming
Negative Verb Root:
bakmamak
[bak-ma-mak]
to not look, the not looking.
Turkish Negative infinitive Formation
Verbs have a separate infinitive form:
- Negative particle -me- -ma- is added to the positive verb stem →
- gelmekto come →
gelmemek[gelme-mek]to not come - almakto take →
almamak[alma-mak]to not take. - This method of forming the negative is true for all Turkish verbs.
Abrasion on Turkish Infinitive -me -ma
- Infinitives are abraded by dropping final -k →
- gelmegoingbakmamanot looking
- Personal pronouns and extended suffixes are be added as required:
- gelmemiz
[gelme-miz]our coming - gitmemeleri
[git me me leri ]their not going - bakmasından
[bakma-sı-ndan]from his looking. - Gülmemeniz imkansiz.
[gül-me-me-niz]Your not laughing is impossible.
Turkısh Abraded Infinitive Examples
- yapmakto do → yapma
[yap-ma]the doing - yapmamaknot to do → yapmama
[yapma-ma]the not doing
vermekto givevermethe giving
vermemethe not giving
ağrımakto acheağrımathe aching
ağrımamathe not aching
bilmekto knowbilmethe knowing
bilmeme not knowing
kopmakto snapkopma snapping
kopmamanot snapping
görmekto see görmeseeing
görmemenot seeing
kurumakto drykurumadrying
kurumamanot drying
gülmekto laughgülmelaughing
gülmeme not laughing
Turkish Infinitive as an Object of a Verb
The infinitive being a noun can take suffixes:
- Geçen hafta ödevimi yapmayı unuttum.
[yapma-yı = the doing]
I forgot to do my homework last week. - Garajdan arabamı almayı unuttum.
[alma-yı = the taking]
I forgot to pick up (take) my car from the garage. - Ali, sana söylemeyi unuttu.
[söyleme-yi = the telling]
Ali forgot to tell you. - Affedersin, seni aramayı unuttuk.
We're sorry, we forgot to call you. - Filmi izlemeyi unuttum.
I forgot to watch the film. - Kediyi beslemeyi unuttum.
I forgot to feed the cat. - Mehmet'i sormayı unuttunuz
You forgot to ask Mehmet. - Kapıyı kapamayı unuttum.
I forgot to close the door. - Pencereyi açmayı unuttular.
They forgot to open the window. - Pencereyi açmamayı hatırladılar.
[açma-MA-yı = the NOT opening]
They remembered NOT to open the window.
Turkish Verbal Objects
Some turkish verbs take the Movement Towards suffix [-(y)e/-(y)a] as their object.
To say: she started to write / she started writing
The infinitive:
yazmakto write is the object of the verb she started…
The suffix shows its relationship to başlamak →
yazmaya başladı
[yazma-ya]she started to write / she started (to the) writing.
Special Case istemekto want
The verb istemek.to want is a special case:
It causes no modification of the verb it governs:
- Yazmak istiyorum.
I want to write. - İçmek istiyorlar.
They want to drink. - Kalmak istemedin.
You didn't want to stay. - Çalışmak istemeyecekler.
They will not want to work.
This also applies in English:
"I want writing", "They want drinking" is incorrect.
The concept of "wanting…" does not affect the verb being governed in any way.
When istemek governs anything other that a verb then the objective case must be used.
In examples below istemek does not govern the verb kalmak
It DOES govern a person
Therefore the direct object pointer IS required.
- Kalmamanızı istiyoruz.
We want you not to stay.
[Kalmama-nız-ı] - Kalmanızı istemiyoruz.
We do not want you to stay.
[Kalma-nız-ı] - Kalmasını istemiyorlar.
They don't want him to stay.
[Kalma-sı-n-ı] - Kalmamalarını istemiyorum.
I don't want them not to stay.
[Kalmama-ları-n-ı]
Verbal Nouns in English
To understand and comprehend verbal nouns must be recognised as such.
- The writing is on the wall.
- The drinking of this water is prohibited.
- Smoking is allowed.
- Leave your suitcase in the waiting room.
- He is working in the drying shed.
Examples of Suffixed Turkish Infinitives
Suffixes follow Vowel Harmony and Consonant Mutation Rules.
Buffer letter -y- is used to keep vowel suffixes apart.
- Kitabı okumaya çalıştı.
He tried[to]to read the book. - Yüzmeyi severim.
I like to swim.
[I like the swimming] - Onu yapmaktayım.
I am just doing it.
[in/at doing it] - sigara içmeyi bıraktım.
I have given up[the]smoking cıgaettes.
Extended Turkish Infinitive Forms
| Turkish Infinitive | with Basic Suffix | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Negative | ||
| gelmek | to come | gelmemek | not to come |
| gelmeye | to come | gelmemeye | to not to come |
| gelmeyi | to come (obj.) | gelmemeyi | not to come |
| gelmekte | in coming | gelmemekte | in not coming |
| gelmekten | from coming | gelmemekten | from not coming |
| gelmekle | by/with coming | gelmemekle | by not coming |
- Kesmeyi bıraktı.
He stopped[the]cutting. - Sürmeyi öğreniyorum.
I am learning[the driving]to drive. - Gülmemeye çalışıyorlar.
They are trying not to[to]laugh.
Turkish Infinitive with Personal Pronoun Endings
The infnitive drops its final -k of -mek -mak in all persons.
| Personalised | Infinitive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Negative | ||
| gitmek | to go | gitmemek | not to go |
| gitmem | my going | gitmemem | my not going |
| gitmen | your going | gitmemen | your not going |
| gitmesi | his / her / its going | gitmemesi | his / her / its not going |
| gitmemiz | our going | gitmememiz | our not going |
| gitmeniz | your going | gitmemeniz | your not going |
| gitmeleri | their going | gitmemeleri | their not going |
Turkish Heavy Infinitive:
The meaning of the heavy infinitive is the same as the standard infinitive.
It is used when there may be ambiguity in the context.
The heavy infinitive is little used.
The heavy infinitive can also have personal pronouns and or case endings added to it.
Positive Verbs:
-lık -lik ix suffixed to the standard infinitive.
The final -k of -mek is often dropped when adding the -lik suffix.
gelmekto come →
gelme(k)likthe coming
Negative Verbs:
are slightly different in that the -mek/-mak changes to -mez/-maz
bakmamaknot to look →
bakmazlıkthe not seeing
| Personalised | Heavy Infinitive | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Positive | Negative | ||
| gelme(k)lik | to come | gelmezlik | not to come |
| gelme(k)liğim | my coming | gelmezliğimiz | our not coming |
| gelme(k)likleri | their coming | gelmezliği | his not coming |
Turkish: How to say: To pretend (not) to…
The heavy infinitive is little used except for the following "special case":
The Negative Heavy Infinitive in the ablative case followed by the verb gelmek means to pretend (not) to…
This "pretend not to" form is in daily use.
- It is a reduplicated negative ie:
- bakmazlık → bakMAmazlıkto not NOT to see.
- Bana bakmamazlıktan geldi.
He pretended (not) to look at me. - Onu görmemezlikten geliyorsunuz.
You are pretending (not) to see it. - Ayşe hanımı sevmemezlikten gelir misiniz?
Are you pretending (not) to like Miss Ayşe?
This construction is a special locution.
It only used with gelmek as an auxiliary verb.
görmemezlikten gelmek
→ ignore
→ turn a blind eye
→ overlook
→ look through
→ give someone the go by
→ close one's eyes to
→ pretend not to see
